Automatic violin-player



E. V. CARLSON.

AUTOMATIC VLOLIN' PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 6, 1911.

1,387,467, Patented Aug. 16,1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

3 O O I a? E. V. CARLSON.

AUTOMATICVIOLIN PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a, 1917.

awowwqs E. V. CARLSON.

AUTOMATIC VIOLIN PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6, 1917- u 1,387,467. Patented Aug. 1 ,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I H H \l\ UNITED; STATES? PATENT OFFICE.

EBICK'VALDEMAR CARLSON', OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC VIOLIN-ILAYER'.

I Specification of Letterslatent. Patented Aug, 16, 1921.

I Application filed March 6, 1917. Serial No. 152,681. r Y

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enron V. CARLsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and-useful Inn provements in Automatic Violin-Players;

invention, such as will enable others skilledin the artto which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to mechanically played musical instruments, and has particular reference'to automatically played violins.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved form of bowing or sounding mechanism for Operation upon the strings, this mechanism consisting essentially ina single bowing or sounding device which may be operated; upon anyone of the strings through a selecting mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a: )neumatically operated set of devices whic will coact with the bowing or sounding element to temporarily associate it me. selective manner with the strings which.

have been simultaneously fingered by a suitable form of fingering mechanism.

A further object of theinventio'n involves theprovision of a. tremolo action which is pneumatically actuated, and also pneumatr cally controlled, so that it may be properly brought into operation by the perforated control sheet which also controls the fingering and bowing or sounding devices. y In connection with. the last mentioned object, it ispurpOsed to provide an intermittent exhaust device for the tremolo pneumatic whereby the bellows is rapidly vibrated and communicates itsvibrations to the strings of the instrument.

With the above principal objects in view and such others which relate to the details of construction aswill'hereinafter appear,

my invention will now be fully set forth. and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings rp Figure 1 is: an end View of-uthe upper portion of the instrument showing the sounding devices, the tremolo action, and portions of the motor mechanism,

Fig. 2 is a plan View,

Fig. 3 1s a, rear view of .the sounding mechanism,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed elevation of the sounding mechanism,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the tremolo action, and V Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of the tremolo action.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, 1 represents a suitable casing, and

frame work upon which is mounted the instrument 2, the latter being a violin of ordinary manufacture, and being elevated from the top of the casing 1, upon suitable standarcls 3 which do not interfere with the sound producing qualities of the instrument. T he casing 1 aside from the instrumentalities which form the subject-matter of this ap- PllCklillOll, carries a suitable fingering mech anism for thestrings of the instrument, a pneumatic mechanism. for actuating the lingering devices, and a tracker board and music sheet support and mechanism which are, or may be of usual and well known construction', and are therefore not shown or described in the present case. The air motoris locatedin the upper forward portion of the casing 1, being indicated by the numeral in Fig. 1. The motor bellows is connected by the pitmen 5 to a crank shaft 6', a belt 7 leading from the crank shaft operating the music sheet gearing. mounted upon the shaft. 6 is a pulley 8 from which a belt 9-extends to a pulley 10 mounted upon a shaft 11. Operating over a second lower end of the violin and in a second standard 17which rises at a point opposite or nearly opposite the bridge of the violin. The shaft 15 acts as adrive for a bowing belt 18, which operates over the strings at the proper sounding point, and is stretched between'the pulleys 1'9 and 20. The pulley 19 is carried upon the free end of the shaft 15, whilethe pulley 20 is mounted upon the free end of a rock arm 21 which is pivoted at 22 upon a bar 23 as shown in Fig. l. One end of the bar 23 is fixed upon a collar 24' which is set upon the standard '17 near its upper end, and its other end is carriedupon a supporting rod-Ze which rises from the top he casin upon the opposite side of the .y rom the standard 17. The bar an inclined position toward the i9, and the arm 21 isinclined in the l l the latter being connected by a coil spring t ug 28 carried by the bar 23, so that the belt it is properly tensioned against the action of the lingering novice as will hereinafter appear.

Also support upon the top of the casing l is a further standard or pillar 29 which rises closely adjacent the standard 25, and carries its upper end an overhanging arm or bracket 30. Supported by and passing around the arm El) is an element of a frame 31 which is substantially rectangular in shape, and extends inwardly over the violin body in substantially horizontal position. Carried by the inner arm or side of the frame s a yoke which terminates at one end in the feet which partially support a bearing block The bearing block is also supported by a pair of uprights 35 which depend from the bar 23, so that while the bearing block 31 is freely suspended, it is properly su Jported against undue vibration and jar. T he bearing block 3%, as best seen in Figs. 1 and consists of upper and lower plates which have the registering bearing grooves so which correspond in number to the number of strings upon the instrument. Ti l-thin the bearings 86 are supported the rockers 3? which consist essentially of Z- shaped bars or crank-shaped elements supported by their middle elements within the bearing block The inner ends of the rockers are right-angularly turned to provide the fingers 38 which overlie and parallel thestrings of the instrument and also project above the lower run of the belt 18, in such position that when the inner ends of the rockers are depresseo, they will cause the belt 18 to come into contact with the strings. he lingers are each provided with a shoe 39 of wood, rubber or other suitable material which will not wear unduly upon the belt 18. The opposite ends of the rockers 37 are shaped into transverse bearings to which are pivotally connected the upper ends of the operating rods d0, said rods 40 eitending through the top of the casing 1 and having their lower ends adjustably connected to the extensions d1 which project from the plurality of action bellows a2. The pneumatic action bellows e2 are of identical form with the bellows in the pneumatic action of an automatic player piano, and therefore will not be further described at this time, except to point out that the pneumatic tubes 43 extend from the bellows i2 and connect to the usual tracker bar not shown) over which the p erforated control sheet operates, so that when air is admitted through the tracker bar upon registration of an opening of the control sheet, with the corresponding opening in the tracker bar, the proper bellows 42 is expanded to elevate the rod l0 through whose agency a rocker 37 is operated to cause the bowing or sounding belt 18 to come into contact with one of the strings of the instrument.

In connection with the present invention, 1 provide a tremolo action which operates directly upon the strings, whenever the device is set into operation through the proper registration of a tremolo perforation in the control sheet with aproperly positioned opening in the tracker bar through which a connection is made to the pneumatic which controls the tremolo. 4.4.- represents the tremolo pneumatic which is inflated by admission of air through the tube 4C5, the tube 45 extending to the tracker bar and admitting air to the pneumatic H when the tremolo perforation in the music sheet or roll registers with the corresponding opening in the tracker bar. The pneumatic 44; carries the bellows 4-6 whose movable leaf 4L7 is connected to a rod or wire 48 by means of the bracket d9. The opposite end of the rod or wire 4:8 is secured to the rear end of a vibrating lever 50, said lever 50 having a. transverse head 51 which engages under the two middle strings of the violin below the bridge thereof and is furthermore provided with a transverse bar 52 which rests upon the outer strings of the instrument, the forward end of the vibrating lever 50 being thus supported wholly by the strings. A weight 53 supported upon the end of an arm 5a which is also secured in the bracket l9 normally presses the movable leaf l? of the bellows e6 downwardly, and thereby preserves a constant tension on the rod 48 and the lever 50.

Mounted upon the shaft 11 and fixed thereto for constant rotation with the latter is a. drum 55 which has bored radially into its periphery a series of ports 56, the ports 56 terminating in longitudinal ports 57 which are extended through and open at the side of the drum. Formed to engage over the periphery of the drum 55 is a shoe block 58 which is normally pressed against the drum in resilient fashion by means of a leaf spring 59, the latter carrying the block 58 and having its rear end secured to a bracket 60 suitably mounted upon the frame of the machine. The block 58 has formed therein, a vertical passage 61 which registers successively with the ports 56 as the drum is rotated, and the passage 61, by means of a coupling 62 is secured to the end of a tube 63 which is branched from the tube 45 by means of a T-coupling 64. The result of the foregoing arrangement of parts is this; the drum 55 is constantly rotated with the shaft 11, and therefore maintains a normal succession of the registrations. This, however, does not fully inflate the bellows 4.6, but only partially inflates it. When a tremolo perforation in the sheet or roll registers with the tracker bar so that a constant suction is set up through the tube '45 to the pneumatic 44, a constant partial inflation of the bellows 46 is maintained. The additional momentary charges of air afforded by the successive registrations of the ports 56 with the opening 61 in the block 58 create a series of rapid impulses in the inflated bellows 46, which by reason of the constant partial inflation maintained through the tube 45 are communicated' to the rod 48 and consequently to the lever 50. These impulses or vibrations are communicated to the stringsthrough the head 51 and the transverse bar 52in an obvious manner so that a perfect tremolo action is imparted to the strings of the instrument.

In the sounding of the strings, the action of the mechanism upon the instrument is as follows; the belt 18 is constantly driven from the motor mechanism through the belts 9 and 13 and the shafts .11 and 15. As a perforated music sheet or roll passes over the tracker bar and the sound producing perforations register with the corre sponding openings in the tracker bar, the proper bellows 42 are successively collapsed, so as to throw the rods 40 upwardly. This action rocks the rock elements 37 and throws the fingers 39 downwardly upon the lower run of the belt 18, with the result that the latter is bowed downwardly into contact with the string oristrings to be sounded, the belt being allowed to flex through the yieldable mounting of the roller 20. The spring 27 is so tensioned that it quickly lifts the belt out of contact with the strings, when the rock devices 37 are released, but does not interfere with the proper contacting of the fingers 39 with the strings under the action of the rock devices.

The action of the tremolo mechanism has already been pointed out, but it should be noted that by reason of the independence of the bowing or sounding mechanism and the tremolo action, both as to their actuating mechanism and their control,the tremolo fingering may be brought into a piece of music at will and with perfect effect. The constant movement of a single driving belt over the strings and the provision of the pneumatic operated manipulating fingeI's for slidably pressing the belt into contact with the several strings reduces to a minimum the actuating mechanism which must be driven by the motor.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a constantly moving endless belt, one of the runs of the belt positioned to overlie the strings of a violin, a plurality of fingers overlying said run, a finger being associated with each string, and means for individually actuating the fingers to move the belt into contact with the strings.

2. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a constantly into contact with theseveral strings, and selective means for actuating said fingers.

3. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, an endless belt, a fixed support and a movable support for Said belt, one run of the belt extending to operate transversely across the strings of a violin, and means for selectively moving the belt run into contact with the several strings.

4. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, an endless belt, a fixed support and a movable support for said belt, one run of the belt extending to operate transversely across the strings of a violin, and a bank of devices for selectively moving portions of the belt run into contact with the strings.

5. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a lever having one end extending for close association with all of the strings of a violin, and means operative upon the opposite end of the lever to vibrate the latter whereby a tremolo action is imparted to the strings.

6. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a lever having lateral extensions at one end for engagement with the strings of a violin, and means operative upon the opposite end of the lever for vibrating the strings.

7. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a lever having one end extended for engagement with all of the strings of a violin, a pneumatic including a bellows and a box, means connecting said bellows with said lever, means for admitting air to the box of the pneumatic, and additional means for introducing rapid intermittent charges of air into the box to cause a vibration of said bellows and lever.

8. An automatic violin player, comprising an instrument holding element, a lever extended for engagement with the strings of a violin, a pneumatic including a bellows and a box, means connecting the bellows with the lever, an air conduit leading to the bellows for admitting air to the box, a branch conduit leading from the first named conduit, a rotary drum having a plurality of peripheral ports, a block operative upon the periphery of the drum and having a port for connecting said branch conduit with the ports and the drum, said drum in its rotation intermittently providing an additional connection between the atmosphere and the bellows.

9. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a lever extended for engagement with the strings or the violin, a pneumatic including a box and a bellows, means connecting the bellows with the lever, an air conduit leading to the box for admitting a partial expanding charge or" air to the latter, a branch conduit leading from the first named conduit, a rotary drum having a plurality of peripheral ports open to the atmosphere inwardly of the peripln cry of the drum, a block operative upon the periphery of the drum and having a port for connecting said branch duct with the ports of the drum, means resiliently forcing the block into contact with the periphery of the drum, said drum in its rotation intermittently providing an additional connection between the atmosphere and the bellows.

10. An automatic violin player comprising an instrument holding element, a constantly rotatable endless belt, one of the runs of the belt positioned to pass transversely above the strings or a violin in spaced relation thereto, a fixed pulley carrying one end of the belt and a resiliently-mounted pulley carrying the opposite end of the belt, a plurality oi fingers projecting above the run of the belt, afinger being superimposed over each string, rock levers carrying said fingers, a corresponding plurality of pneumatic actions, means connecting the pneumatic actions with the rock levers, and means for selectively actuating the pneumatic actions to cause the fingers to press the belt into contact with the strings.

11. The combination with a violin of a frame work extending transversely across the violin and including a bridge piece, a fixed pulley carried by the frame work, an oscillatory pulley suspended from the bridge piece, a spring also connected to the bridge piece for normally throwing the oscillatory pulley away from the fixed pulley, an endless bowing belt carried over the pulleys, the lower run of the belt lying in closely spaced relation to the strings of the violin, means for constantly driving the belt, a plurality of lingers corresponding in number to the strings extending above the lower run of the belt, and each overlying a string, a plurality of rock levers carried by the frame work and each supporting a finger. and pneumatic actions for selectively rocking the levers to carry the fingers lownwardly against the belt, said fingers in contasting the belt carrying the contacted portion into contact with the corresponding string.

In testimony whereof, I ailix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ERICK VALDEMAR CARLSON.

Witnesses G120. I. Brown, Cnnisr. JENSEN. 

